1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for forming a particle-containing specimen solution such as blood or urine into a flat sheathed flow, irradiating the flat flow of the specimen solution with pulsed light to obtain a still picture, and applying imaging processing to perform analysis such as classification and enumeration of the particle components contained in the specimen solution. More particularly, the invention relates to a flow imaging cytometer, which is a particle image analyzer, adapted so as to constantly monitor an image capturing area of the flat specimen flow, irradiate the particles with light when they reach the image capturing area, and acquire a fluorescent image and/or white-light image of the particle components in an efficient manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A technique known in the art is to subject particles such as stained cells to exciting light and perform analysis such as classification of the particles by detecting fluorescence emitted by the particles. Specific examples of apparatus which employ this technique are flow cytometers and microscopes.
A flow cytometer is capable of detecting the amount of fluorescence emitted by individual particles.
A detailed fluorescent image can be observed by using a microscope. In addition, an arrangement is available in which the fluorescent image obtained is subjected to image processing. Furthermore, the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 63-269875 discloses an image capturing apparatus whereby images can be acquired using three types of light, namely ultraviolet light, visible light and infrared light.
An apparatus for acquiring the images of particles flowing as a flat stream and analyzing the particles by image processing is disclosed in the specifications of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-500995 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,024.
Further, the present applicant has previously filed an application for an apparatus adapted so as to constantly monitor an image capturing area, detect particles in the flow when they arrive at this area, and acquire images of the particles in efficient fashion.